Grossmont Healthcare District honors six volunteers at luncheon

Volunteers do not always get the credit they deserve. They come when needed, are happy to help and many characteristically shy away from taking credit.

On May 14, Grossmont Healthcare District put six of its hardest-working volunteers front and center, where they were the ones getting attention, deservedly. The Healthcare Heroes Awards at Steele Canyon Golf Club provided the opportunity for the district and the community to say thank you by honoring the nominated volunteers. A video that detailed and interviewed each volunteer humbled the crowd of professionals, representatives of politicians, families and friends of the six volunteers by revealing how the simple actions of these selfless people could affect so many.

Volunteer work performed by the honorees include chaplain visits, handyman, runner and driver services, holiday gift-organizing for families in need, and creating Memory Bears for grieving loved ones of people who have passed.

“We have volunteers who just don’t get recognized, no one would know about them. That’s why we do this,” said Barry Jantz, Grossmont Hospital District CEO.

Chuck Robbins, who will be 90 in November, has performed spiritual duties to patients for eight years. He took a course at Foothills Methodist Church called the Stevens Ministry Course, now he finds fulfillment in praying with patients.

“The power of prayer is one of the ingredients of getting well,” said Robbins, who tells those in hospital beds, “Get well and get out of here!”

He volunteers with Meals on Wheels, takes donated food to an elementary school each week, and as a “runner” he delivers medical items, prescriptions and has more than 3,000 volunteer hours in his eight years with Grossmont Hospital.

“I’m very satisfied at the hospital,” Robbins said.

Nellie LaRussa is involved in more than one charity, but spends a good deal of her time at Grossmont Hospital. With a background in schooling (she worked at Fletcher Hills Elementary for 17 years and did religious education for 20 years), she still volunteers at her grandson’s school when she gets a chance. She is involved with Knights of Columbus and Our Lady of Grace Church, for good measure.

“I just stay active,” said LaRussa, who is 79. “This is so rewarding. Some of the patients I work with, they’re dying, or they’re in comas, just being able to hold their hand and touch them, so that they know there is someone there that loves them and cares about them, it’s very fulfilling. I leave the hospital always on a high, especially when we do our Baby Blessings Ministry.” LaRussa and another woman started the Baby Blessings Ministry two years ago, a non-denominational, request-only prayer read over newborn babies.

Winners of the Grossmont Healthcare Heroes were Joan and Seymour Zeenkov. They have been married nearly 60 years and are two of the original volunteers for the Sharp HospiceCare Memory Bear program. A memory bear is a stuffed bear made from clothes worn by someone who passed away; it is given to the loved ones for comfort during grieving. The Zeenkovs began volunteering when they lost their daughter, who was cared for at Sharp HospiceCare. Memory Bears were first made for the Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy. They have been made for grieving families of 9/11 first responders and graciously produced ever since by volunteers like Joan Zeenkov. She has personally made at least 950 bears (that is more than 7,200 hours of sewing). She was one of the first sewers. There are 25 sewers now, many from East County.

“I know she would be proud,” Zeenkov said about her daughter

She is inspired by the memory of her daughter, but also by others in grief, a process many say never really ends. She said it is the reaction from people who receive a Memory Bear that she remembers.

“I see the tears, I see the joy, I’m dealing with the families of people who have passed away,” she said.

The Grossmont Healthcare District’s Healthcare Heroes Awards Luncheon has been accepting nominations and honoring volunteers for eight years. To see a list of past nominated volunteers or to nominate a volunteer, log onto www.grossmonthealthcare.com.